Capsicum Frutescens

L.

Red pepper (E); Aji (P); Aji picante (S); Caja (Cu); Chile (P); Kapur (Cu); Rocoto (C) . Red pepper, commonly cultivated and escaped, is not so much used in Panama as it is in Mexico. In Africa, the fruits or leaves are taken as antidotes after eating poisonous fish. In San Bas, Indians string hot peppers behind their boats as shark repellents (!). Powdered and dried, the pimento is converted into paprika. The leaves are used to flavor stews or as a potherb, with 4-6% protein. Red pepper has many medicinal attributes. Some South American Indians use a pepper collyrium to improve the sharpness of their vision. The fruit is regarded as stimulant, stomachic, and rubefacient. It is taken internally in cholera, for sore throat, phthisis, given with cinchona for malaria, prescribed in ague, cholera, dropsy, dyspepsia, gout, malaria, snakebite, and typhus; used externally for giddiness, earache, and hemorroids. In Panama, a poultice of pepper leaves is used for softening boils. The following story would suffer in translation: "Friede ha sacado a luz el episodio de la mujer e un encomendero del alto Magdalena, que por celos de una India, en un gesto larguiano le metio un platano untado de aji por la natura." In Ailigandi, pepper and cacao are burned for 7 or 9 days to ward off evil spirits (!). Elsewhere the fruits are burned to drive off rats. The "ajillo", Capsicum baccatum, is also common. The green fruit is pickled and the ripe fruit is used in salads and sauces. The green pepper is cultivated among the Cuna, who call it caja.